Radio Football Commentators and Reporters 2013/14 season

With just over 24 hours until the 2013/14 Footballing season gets under way with the 1st qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League (of which Bala Town are a participant), I'd first like to say I will be scaling back my Radio Wales / Cymru details on the basis that I shall only be listening to their sporting coverage should I know that there will be no commentary of Cardiff Dragons on that day.

Comments

I wonder what Radio Wales will do regarding frequency splits now Newport County are back in the Football League.

Dave Fletcher covered Halifax Town until getting the Bradford City commentary job. Now they're in what ever that league is called now, I wonder if he'll do some Halifax commentaries or even be replaced as Bradford City commentator? I wonder if changes on Leeds United's board could be good for Radio Leeds? I remember Radio Leeds covering the final Saturday friendlies before the start of the season last year. That was unusual for them.

I noticed in the Pulse's news bulletins today there was an item about Bradford City returning to training.

BBC Radio Nottingham seem to having a problem when it comes to renewing their broadcast rights for Nottingham Forest matches. They've had issues since Billy Davies came back as manager. This is a tweet a few days ago:

BBC Radio Nottingham ‏@BBCNottingham 24 Jun@Craig_Butler85 hi Craig. Don't know. Our deal has run out and we don't seem to be able to get a meeting with #nffc to discuss renewal.

Thanks Ian for a creating a new Radio Football Commentators and Reporters thread for the new season. I see you have posted the last couple of threads in the opening post of this one, but as a means of resource I'll repost a full (updated) list of previous threads detailing radio football coverage as I do at the start of every season:

Radio Newcastle have added recently retired Steve Harper to their football team.

He'll be doing the Newcastle side of daily phone in show Total Sport on Tue and Thu with current John Anderson doing the other 3 days and match summarising. Marco Gabbiadini and Gary Bennett continue in their Sunderland roles

If anyone reading this is fluent in one of the following languages and fancies their chances as a football commentator, talkSPORT Live are recruiting:

talkSPORT – International Commentators

Location: London

Closing date: July 30th

UTV Media (GB) is one of the largest radio groups in the UK, with market leading local stations.

We also own the national sports station talkSPORT and the UK’s leading sports magazine, Sport. We also operate a number of DAB digital radio multiplexes throughout Great Britain.

In addition, our international service, talkSPORT Live, broadcasts live Barclays Premier League football commentaries worldwide.

We are now recruiting football commentators and journalists for this expanding international team.

If you are a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Japanese, Thai, Korean, Indonesian Bahasa, Malaysia Bahasa, Portuguese, French or Spanish and have good football knowledge with some journalistic experience, please send your CV to [email protected]

talkSPORT Live must have proven successful during its debut season, in which it broadcast commentary on all 380 Premier League games plus the Community Shield and a number of FA Cup and Capital One Cup games live in English, Spanish and Mandarin. As well as being a non-EEC internet service, talkSPORT Live forged partnerships with radio stations in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria and the United States - albeit all in the English language to the best of my knowledge (apart from one of its Malaysian partner stations, which opted to take commentaries in Malay rather than English midway through last season).

Including Malaysia Bahasa, it looks like they are adding commentaries in ten different language to the existing three they started producing broadcasts in last season. That's a big expansion on what already looked like an ambitious project this time last year. It'll be interesting to see if they are able to make some headway on non-Anglophone radio in places like Asia and South America in the new season or if much of this will be limited to just being an online service in 2013/14.

In other talkSPORT Live news, the operation's English language editor Tom Rennie has been among the newsreaders covering the weekday afternoon sports bulletins while Andrew McKenna has been in Australia for the British & Irish Lions tour. It's the first time I've heard Rennie, formerly of LBC and Gold in London, on talkSPORT's main UK station. I guess they had to find something for him to do during the months when talkSPORT Live is not on the air.

Huw has just said whilst reporting that UEFA have told Airbus UK Broughton that they will be called AUK Broughton 'for sponsorship reasons' in their competitions. FFS - Airbus have nothing to do with the club.

It's been suggested that some of those posted above might yet swap - for instance Newcastle V Sunderland is scheduled for 4pm on Sun Oct 27th but apparently police are unhappy and so there's a chance it could be moved forward. If so it might well swap with Chelsea V Man City at 1.30, with Talksport presumably much preferring the Chelsea game.

It's a bit of a blow for Talksport if the Manchester derby is played at 4pm. That seemed destined for them as it's generally always been an early kick-off.

Thanks for posting the list of talkSPORT commentary games as per the current schedule for the first four months of the season 4-4-2.

We were discussing whether talkSPORT would see an increase in the number of Saturday 5.30pm Premier League games they would be able to cover in 2013/14 towards the end of last season's thread, and the first thing that jumps out at me when it comes to talkSPORT's fixture list is that they will have a live commentary on every Saturday evening between August and November once the season begins, barring the Saturdays of the three international weekends during that period.

With Saturday 5.30pm Premier League fixtures scheduled with a greater degree of regularity by Sky Sports than ESPN did in previous seasons, it makes me wonder whether talkSPORT will have to cut down on the number of Sunday double headers they do in order not to exceed their maximum quota of games. Then again, given that each of their packages "comprises 31-33 live matches per season" now, the Premier League seems to be offering more flexibility this rights cycle. And given that talkSPORT fell short of their maximum allocation by two games last season and by three games the season before that, it could be that they are allowed to exceed their quota by up to five games this season if necessary. The Premier League have form in allowing Radio 5 Live to slightly exceed their maximum allocation in the past, after they had fell short of it in a previous season, so this would seem fair.

Apparently BT have only made 5 of their 18 "first picks" so the 12.45pm Saturday matches after Christmas might include some of the big head-to-head matches. That's good news for 5 Live of course.

Overall I think talkSPORT will be pleased with their allocation, they have purchased 64 nationally-exclusive matches at a reasonable price (approx the same as 2010 anyway) so it's a good result for them.

Readingfan makes an interesting point, I will be very surprised if the police allow the Manchester, South Wales or Tyne/Wear derbies to take place at 4pm on a Sunday, with rival fans together in the pubs all day.

Has it been confirmed that Sam Matterface is the main talkSPORT commentator for 2013/14?

There were no reporters (or use of people associated with the clubs, as has happened before) in the Welsh representation in the Europa League qualifiers tonight (FK Liepājas Metalurgs v Prestatyn Town, FK Ventspils v Airbus UK Broughton and FC Levadia Tallinn v Bala Town).

The newsreader on Radio Cymru did get it wrong, and say Prestatyn Town went out after losing 1-0. They didn't, as it's currently in extra time. 'cos I'm watching a stream of it.

It's been suggested that some of those posted above might yet swap - for instance Newcastle V Sunderland is scheduled for 4pm on Sun Oct 27th but apparently police are unhappy and so there's a chance it could be moved forward. If so it might well swap with Chelsea V Man City at 1.30, with Talksport presumably much preferring the Chelsea game.

It's a bit of a blow for Talksport if the Manchester derby is played at 4pm. That seemed destined for them as it's generally always been an early kick-off.

Surely the police would've already been consulted prior to the game being picked or announced as a fixture for TV?

Dave Fletcher covered Halifax Town until getting the Bradford City commentary job. Now they're in what ever that league is called now, I wonder if he'll do some Halifax commentaries or even be replaced as Bradford City commentator? I wonder if changes on Leeds United's board could be good for Radio Leeds?

It's been announced today that Radio Leeds have signed a deal with Leeds United for full commentary rights. They retain the existing deal with Huddersfield Town, but from what they have said on Twitter it seems they haven't yet agreed anything with Bradford yet.

How they carve up the frequencies will be interesting, I certainly hope Leeds United aren't just on 103.9, as a Leeds fan based in Huddersfield. If they fail to agree terms with Bradford (who I seem to remember were awkward a few seasons ago only allowing away commentaries) that could make it easier to juggle.

It's been announced today that Radio Leeds have signed a deal with Leeds United for full commentary rights. They retain the existing deal with Huddersfield Town, but from what they have said on Twitter it seems they haven't yet agreed anything with Bradford yet.

How they carve up the frequencies will be interesting, I certainly hope Leeds United aren't just on 103.9, as a Leeds fan based in Huddersfield. If they fail to agree terms with Bradford (who I seem to remember were awkward a few seasons ago only allowing away commentaries) that could make it easier to juggle.

This 3-year deal is the big news. I remember when Radio Leeds lost Leeds United commentary rights. They already have the promo made for the return of Leeds United commentaries.

I expect that the Bradford City deal is just taking time. However, that may not be the case. The Pulse Sport Twitter indicates they already have a deal for next season to cover Bradford City.

Back when Radio Leeds broadcast commentary on every Leeds United match, Leeds United were always on FM. Huddersfield Town and Bradford City were on AM and DAB, with the latter platform broadcasting the match that wasn't on AM without a summariser. Reports on that match would be on AM.

Now Radio Leeds have the rights to Leeds United matches, I think Leeds United fans will expect every match to be on every FM frequency like before. That is what I expect will happen.

However, Huddersfield Town fans have become used to their team always been on FM over the past few seasons. Unlike Leeds United and Bradford City, Huddersfield Town's matches can only be heard on BBC Radio Leeds. I can see why Huddersfield Town fans would think it was unfair if their team wasn't on FM.

It is easier for football fans if all matches involving their club are on the same frequency. I would rather that if the choice is between AM and DAB for Huddersfield Town matches, DAB is the chosen platform. Reception of DAB is better in Huddersfield than AM, and it presumably became even better when the Leeds multiplex started broadcasting from Emley Moor. I think it is more likely that Radio Leeds will revert to how things used to be. Under those arrangements, fewer Bradford City matches would be on AM as the main match because they're in a lower division.

Yorkshire Radio's days are surely numbered with the planned closure of the multiplex it's on? Plus the demise of K Bates esq as Chairman at Elland Road.

I wonder if there is any possibility of Radio Leeds splitting on DAB, putting a different commentary on the Leeds mux and the West Yorkshire one? Might get confusing though, but I think WM do something like that.

I wonder if there is any possibility of Radio Leeds splitting on DAB, putting a different commentary on the Leeds mux and the West Yorkshire one? Might get confusing though, but I think WM do something like that.

I've read on here the BBC is exploring doing that but by reducing the bitrates of local stations to make room for an extra channel. Radio Leeds doesn't duplicate on DAB radios that can pick up both West Yorkshire multiplexes, whereas I think WM does so if you can pick up both multiplexes on which it appears, you get it on your DAB radio twice like when Kiss was on local multiplexes here in West Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Radio's commentaries will still be provided by Thom Kirwin and Eddie Gray and will still be on Minster FM.

I wonder if there is any possibility of Radio Leeds splitting on DAB, putting a different commentary on the Leeds mux and the West Yorkshire one? Might get confusing though, but I think WM do something like that.

BBC WM do do something like this, the form it takes is that on football matchdays they can split their output by up to three different ways (or four if you include the possibility of them also providing an internet-only feed as they do for Warwickshire CCC), in putting a main commentary game on their only analogue frequency of 95.6FM, then putting secondary games as DAB-only services on the Birmingham multiplex and Wolverhampton multiplex. If one multiplex has an alternative commentary game but the other doesn't, then the one without a game of its own will just take 95.6FM's output as per usual.

Has it been confirmed that Sam Matterface is the main talkSPORT commentator for 2013/14?

Well, he's scheduled to present both editions of the Weekend Sports Breakfast over the course of this weekend, which seems to imply that if he had an initial three-year contract/agreement with the station based on their previous Premier League radio rights contract, then this must have been extended upon the station's renewal of it.

No real surprise this, but according to Alan Brazil upon interviewing him on this morning's Sports Breakfast, we already know that Roger Hughes will be talkSPORT's pitchside reporter at their first Premier League commentary game of 2013/14, Swansea City v Manchester United.

It looks as though Dan Lobb is making his talkSPORT presenting debut next Friday night. He's down to host Kick-Off.

Thanks for the information. I thought Dan Lobb was one of the better Sky Sports News presenters when I used to watch that channel before it disappeared from Freeview, I have not seen him on Daybreak (where he is their sports correspondent) in more recent times though.

talkSPORT have been trialling quite a few new presenters in their evening and weekend football/sports coverage timeslots in recent months. Nat Coombs, the Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and Channel 4 MLB and NFL host, has presented the last couple of editions of Kick Off, having debuted as a cover host on overnight show Extra Time; while Russell Hargreaves - a fantastically versatile freelance sports reporter for the likes of IRN, Talking Rugby and Today FM - has been given the chance to host Full Contact and will now front Kick Off tomorrow night after becoming a regular on Extra Time. Coombs and Neil Ashton, the Daily Mail journalist who has presented live football on Al Jazeera and Sky Sports' The Sunday Supplement, have also presented The Transfer Tavern this summer.

While hearing new voices is usually a positive, Hargreaves aside (due to his overnight stints) I'm not sure where these new presenters could realistically fit into the schedule on a regular basis seeing as talkSPORT have an exisiting line-up of very strong anchors of their live football coverage in Adrian Durham, Mark Saggers, Georgie Bingham, Danny Kelly, Ian Danter and, on occasion, Richard Keys.